A Chinese container ship made a three-month round trip from the Baltic Sea to China and back. It is the first step in establishing regular container shipping via Russia’s Northern Sea Route (NSR).
The ship called NewNew Polar Bear (新新北极熊) belongs to the Chinese shipping company NewNew Shipping Line. The Chinese container ship is capable of carrying up to 1,638 standard containers (TEU).
The ship had left St. Petersburg in July and arrived in Shanghai on August 4th [as part of the first voyage], High North News reported. After that, the ship headed back and reached its final destination, St. Petersburg, on October 9th.
NewNew Shipping Line’s service represents the first attempt to establish regular container shipping in the Arctic. Currently, cargo traffic via the NSR is dominated by the transport of liquefied natural gas and crude oil. The ship’s Arc5 ice-classification allows it to travel along the NSR between July and November.
According to the industry media reports, NewNew Shipping Line plans to rapidly expand its Arctic fleet by adding “up to 10 more boxships” on the route.
Source: High North News
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